Here is what one customer said about the feral queen and her hive this year. “I wanted to share some photos from my hive inspection on June 13. Those foundationless frames are awesome! I had so many people telling me that using deep foundationless frames wouldn’t work–that the bees wouldn’t draw them out well — […]

We have been receiving loads of questions about checking for eggs this week. Here are some thoughts about eggs. Why do I need to check for eggs? The reason you need to look for eggs is to establish if there is a queen and if she is laying eggs. Just because there are no eggs present […]

Question: I currently have a top bar hive and am looking to some how move it to a hive that requires less maintenance. A friend recommended you guys- I’ve seen her hives and they are great! I’m looking for hive recommendations and any help you can offer- I’m located in Spanish Fork. Answer: We recommend a […]

To Bring The new hive: One deep box or barn hive, 1 lid, and 1 bottom board. Protective clothing (suit, jacket, bee veil, etc.) Please wear closed-toed shoes and long pants as well. We will have a few extra bee suits to loan for the event, if needed. Gloves Smoker with matches and fuel (burlap) […]

We love it when our customers ask awesome, thoughtful questions! Here is a Question from Dave in Pocatello, ID. He said, “I am looking for a package of bees to start my first hive. I’m really interested in treatment-free and am planning to use top-bar hives. I just read the explanation on your feral queen project. […]

This post is geared to those who will be picking up nucs and want to read up ahead of time. Click Here for a post about what to bring to the pickup. Nuc Transfer Instructions Start your smoker. Find and mark the nuc you would like. Move the nuc box over a few feet and […]

In January, we hosted a unit study about honeybees at our home. It was really fun! There were about 50 people here, swarming around the stations. I’ve been working on a honeybee curriculum called “All About Bees for Kids” and thought this blog is a good venue to share it! At the bottom of the […]

I just read this article on KSL about the bee attack. It is hard for me to read bad press about bees and feel like some information is missing from this article. This may be misleading and cause others to have bad opinions about honeybees. This is especially important considering the beekeeping legislation on the […]

Yesterday we talked to the Utah Tax Commission and asked about sales tax for honeybees and equipment. It turns out that we need to be charging in-state sales tax for our products, especially now that we are selling beekeeping equipment. However, they told us about an exemption for those purchasing beekeeping equipment for production agriculture. Like, […]

We don’t typically use entrance reducers on our hives in winter. Here’s what bees from one hive did to the entrance. This colony was wintering in a 5-frame nuc box. Bees sealed the entrances with propolis, leaving only a small entrance hole, the size they wanted. We like to encourage bees to use lots of propolis, […]

Lately, we’ve been looking at wing veination, or the shape of the veins on the wings, of bees, wasps, and flies. It’s been neat to see the differences and we thought we’d share. Some scientists (not us) can tell the race of a honeybee by its wing veination. This tricky fly looks like a bee […]

Ants usually aren’t a problem for honeybees, unless the hive is situated right on top of an ant pile. Ants are a very minor bee pest. They are opportunistic and will consume honey left behind in an empty colony. The ants pictured moved into a hive after the bees died. They were picking up a residue […]

I love beeswax lip balm! For me, the following recipe is the perfect texture, and I love how it lingers and moisturizes long after applying. It’s soft, but not too soft. It’s not too oily, either. It’s just right. I use it on my cracked, winter hands and Stan used it today to lubricate a jig […]

Testing your bees for varroa mites is important to do both spring and fall. One way to do this is using the powdered sugar roll test. We like this method because it is fairly accurate, and does not kill the bees. To see how to do the test, see this post. Part of the sugar roll test […]

We love when we get very timely email questions about bees! Here is one that I started to answer via email, but then realized that many of you will benefit from the answer and created this blog post. Thanks, Diane, for the question and the photo! Diane’s Question We have this strange thing going on with […]

Use the percentage of mites from the sugar roll test to decide on treatment methods as part of integrated pest management. Here are a few of many treatment options to decrease the varroa mite load. Some of them work better than others. 1. Delay treatment Sometimes this is the best method, especially if mite loads are […]

A powdered sugar roll is a great way to estimate how many mites are in a honeybee colony. Knowing the mite load can help beekeepers more sustainably manage varroa mite load in bees. We prefer this method to the alcohol wash as the bees will survive this process. In this post, we’ll show you how […]

Varroa mites are a parasitic mite affecting honeybees. Mites poke a hole in the bees to drink bee blood. They move from bee to bee, drinking blood and transmitting disease. Mites feed on both adult bees and brood. An adult mite enters the cell of a larvae and then is sealed inside the wax cell. The mite […]

Looking for a great gift for the beekeeper in your life? Here are a few great suggestions that could fit most budgets, with approximate prices. 1. A new hive tool ($7). These things come in handy and you can’t have too many. See our amazon affiliate store for one example. 2. A subscription to a […]

To make wax, honeybee workers consume nectar or honey and digest the sugars. The sugars recombine to make the complex carbohydrate known as “Beeswax.” Scientists have not fully analyzed the components of beeswax, as it is intensely complex. Bees excrete wax between scale layers on their abdomen. Colored photo of wax being excreted from abdomen […]